Flashlight
The Flashlight is a piece of equipment featured in Counter-Strike, Condition Zero, Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes, Counter-Strike: Source, and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive. It is mainly used to illuminate dark areas with light. Overview The flashlight is free and does not need to be purchased; it is a standard equipment that all players have. It allows players to see darkened areas where the crosshair is pointing. Turning the flashlight on and off will emit an audible sound, and the light beam itself is visible to other players, possibly alerting enemies to the player's presence. In bright areas, they are generally useless. Unlike the Nightvision Goggles, the graphics load is minimal, having far less impact on performance. Like the Nightvision Goggles, this item is regarded to be nearly useless on most official maps because these maps do not have areas dark enough that require the use of a flashlight and the light can alert enemies. Due to this, many players avoid using it in areas where enemy players may be present, or not using it at all. Bots never use the flashlight, and can see clearly in dark areas. Turning the flashlight on and off does not cause bots to detect the player as they can only detect footsteps. This permits players to use it in dark maps to clearly see enemy bots without being spotted. GoldSrc games *The flashlight's range in GoldSrc games is unlimited, meaning that players can illuminate areas from halfway across a map. This can come in quite handy for snipers, allowing them to spot enemies hidden in dark areas. *The flashlight can be turned on/off with the flashlight key (F'' by default) *It takes 2 minutes of continuous lightning to empty the battery and 20 seconds to recharge it from empty to full. The flashlight icon will turn red if close to depletion. Counter-Strike: Condition Zero Deleted Scenes *The flashlight is no longer in the player's possession by default. It instead appears as a weapon attachment only available to the M3 and the MP5. *It can be turned on or off by pressing the alternate fire button. *Both weapon flashlights are identical and have no differences. *Switching to any other weapon will turn the flashlight off, even if the drawn weapon itself has a flashlight.Tested-in game *Both the M3 and the MP5 share the same flashlight battery. *When drawn, a flashlight icon will appear and flash twice when drawn. *Aside from providing vision, the flashlight has no other effect on enemies or allies, meaning it won't alert or blind them. *Reloading the weapon will not displace the light as it will keep coming out of the player's chest. Counter-Strike: Source The flashlight has been significantly altered compared to its previous iterations. *It is still activated by pressing the flashlight key (''F by default). *Unlike the GoldSrc games flashlight, the Source flashlight's range is limited, only capable of providing light for up to medium range. The intensity of the light decreases with range. *Its power supply is now unlimited, thus once activated it never runs out of power and turns off. *If not used carefully, enemies hiding in corners can easily be alerted and spot the user's position. ''Counter-Strike: Global Offensive The flashlight was initially only accessible with console commands. It could be bound to the flashlight key (''F by default) by typing "bind f impulse 100" in the console. It was eventually removed during the Arms Deal update and its key was rebound to inspecting the player's current weapon. Tactics *Use a flashlight only in areas when you cannot see a location clearly in the dark. Normally, most maps are bright enough to see it without the need of a Flashlight. **However, when playing with bots, you can use it without worrying as they will ignore any signs of a flashlight. Trivia *The flashlight is based on the build-in flashlight on the H.E.V. suit in Half-Life. However, it has a new HUD icon and it has very minor changes. **In Source games, the flashlight is directly derived from Half-Life 2, excluding the activate/deactivate sound. It does not have any alterations to the light and lacks the need to charge the battery. *In GoldSrc games, the flashlight cannot be turned on or off when reloading, except shotguns. *Along with the Nightvision Goggles, flashlights are often used in some custom game scenarios, such as Zombie Plague. **The ability to use the flashlight may be restricted or permitted in some custom servers. This can be changed in the "create server" settings. *In Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, the usage of the flashlight was replaced with the inspection button. However, some server plugins can permit players to use it again, alongside with the Nightvision goggles. *Some Counter-Terrorists models features flashlight attached on them: **The operatives of SEAL Team 6 in Counter-Strike: Source have shoulder flashlights. ***In Global Offensive, two of the model variants have LED flashlights attached to their helmets. **The FBI members have flashlights holstered in their Kevlar vest pocket. **The SWAT force have flashlights attached on their armor. Their exact positions vary: One is attached on the right side of the chest of a model variant, another is on the left, and two of them have the flashlight in the middle. *In Counter-Strike: Source and Global Offensive, if the flashlight is enabled, the light is oddly beaming from a player's chest. Behind the scenes *The Counter-Strike: Source flashlight icon suggests that the flashlight was likely to have had a limited power supply akin to is predecessors. **The same icon appears in the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive game files. *All iterations of the M3 in the Counter-Strike games have unusable flashlight attachments (except in Deleted Scenes, which is usable). The only known model not to feature it is the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Alpha model. *Only the Ritual Entertainment models for the MP5 feature a flashlight attachment. External links *Flashlight at Wikipedia Category:Equipment